Life Goes On
by ChibiJaime
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Sometimes, before the biggest changes in one's life, many small changes happen that you may never be aware of. Set between the final fight and the end. Spoilers involved.


The sun was starting to rise again when the last of the ships finally pulled into the harbor at Berk. Those who had remained were panicked at first when dragons followed, and it took several minutes to calm down the initial panic. While no one really seemed too comfortable with this initial idea, they at least settled enough to focus on the fact that apparently, whatever the outcome, the dragons were no longer a threat.

At least three figures in the mess of faces, however, were completely oblivious to the excitement around them. A father stood in silence over his motionless son, doubt and guilt reigning in his tumultuous mind. A young girl watched with baited breath, trying to cling to any hope she could as she watched the boy's chest rise and fall in slow, uneven breaths. A dragon, its earfins laid back, making confused and worried sounds in its chest, not entirely certain what to make of all the fuss and only knowing something was terribly wrong.

It was hard enough for Astrid to watch Toothless there by Hiccup. The dark-scaled beast was still a little dazed from his crash, but that didn't stop him from keening miserably, tail twitching and earfins twitching to catch any sign of life or movement. He had settled curled by his friend's side, occasionally nosing his cheek or tugging at his shirt sleeve. With each lack of response, he gave a piteous wail, puffing air out his nostrils like a horse denied a treat.

Astrid exchanged a very nervous glance with Stoick. If this was any indication of things to come...? What to do about Hiccup's leg would be the least of their concerns. Toothless was protective enough as it was, and with his boy already hurt, well... things could only go downhill from there.

Besides that, there was going to be quite a fuss in Berk... what with the surviving ships coming into harbor with no nevermind to the full wing of dragons propelling them along, almost ignorant to the friendly presence of the very creatures they had left to kill. As it stood, Astrid was the only one of the conscious teens not riding her dragon home. Where the others had taken point around the ships, swooping and diving and getting a much better feel for their new freedom, she had chosen to stay near Hiccup. Not that this was doing anything for her already badly rattled nerves.

She'd nearly dozed off sitting up, however, when Gobber pulling Stoick aside caught her attention. From what she could catch of the lowly spoken snatches of conversation, things didn't look too good.

Hopeless, she heard. Can't fix it. Has to go. _ False leg._

As smart as she knew Toothless was, she was suddenly very glad he was too dazed to do more than fuss and keen over his unconscious keeper.

*****

The fuss in the village was every bit as loud as the returning Vikings had assumed it would be and then some. Many kept their distance as dragons lit on any available perch, those ridden by the young trainees providing something of an honor guard for Astrid, a wobbly and irritable Toothless, and Stoick, who was grimly carrying his badly injured son.

Nearly thirty of the original party of hundreds had died when the Green Death had emerged. Many more were injured. And yet, despite the losses, not one person in the village seemed to be able to tear their eyes away from the small group heading up toward the house on the highest hill, the air so silent it may as well have been a funeral march. One or two particularly brave Vikings reached curiously toward Toothless as he passed.

All of them were smart enough to jerk their hands back when he lowered his spade-shaped head below the level of his shoulders, bared all his teeth, and growled.

At least, Astrid mused glumly, they had sense enough for that.

It took some doing once they'd actually arrived at the house to get Toothless inside. The Night Fury, slowly coming out of the exhausted stupor his crash had left him in, had taken one look at all the visible weapons and bits of dead dragons about and lowered until his belly was brushing the dirt, growling as his pupils narrowed to slits. The weapons were quickly moved out of sight, as well as all the gruesome trophies, and in the end, he was finally coaxed past the door. Once they had Hiccup safely in a makeshift cot on the bottom floor, Stoick turned again to Astrid.

"Stay with my son," he told her firmly, "and see to that fussy beast of his, if you can. Looks like he's getting his senses back, and the last any of us needs is a frightened Night Fury leaping about."

Astrid nodded as the chief turned and walked across the room to meet Gobber at the door, and the two men moved to the opposite side of the room to talk. Sighing, she cast a quiet glance at Toothless as he paced restlessly along the length of the house, stopping only a few times to see if his boy had woken yet. It was in that moment that Astrid realized his being frightened was not the concern at all. Toothless would defend Hiccup... she was sure of that.

So what would happen if worse came to worst? It wasn't something that bore thinking about.

*****

Through conversation and many visits, including a long one from the village elder, nighttime finally fell, and no changes had come. Astrid was sent home feeling absolutely miserable at the whole situation. Her Nadder, nicknamed Naddie for the time being, had been waiting just outside, chirping curiously as they walked along. It took nearly half an hour to get the curious dragon to finally settle for the night under Astrid's window, and when she finally got inside, she caught one great eye sneaking a peek inside. At the girl's glance, however, she warbled and quickly ducked her head out of sight.

Not that Astrid slept very well at all. Her thoughts were racing, head full of every tiny little detail that could possibly go wrong. Her stomach churned with the weight of it. She felt she had only just drifted off when her mother was hurrying her awake, bathed, and dressed. She would eat at the chief's house, she was told. Why?

They needed help with _that dragon_. Somehow, she was not at all surprised.

Still glassy-eyed with exhaustion, she pulled on a heavy fur cloak and headed up the hill. The sun was still hidden below the horizon, with only a thin band of color at the surface of the most distant water to show the coming dawn, and the island was still covered in thick mist. The gloomy silence was only broken now and again by the growling snores of many dragons making themselves at home. She may have been aware the dragons were no longer the enemy, but she couldn't help thinking this would take some getting used to.

Warm as her cloak was, the fog was wet and chilly, and she was exceedingly grateful when Stoick ushered her inside. The big hut was nice and toasty, heated by a blazing fire at the center, near where Hiccup still lay unconscious. It looked as though one of the village medicine women was ready to remove the irreparably damaged leg, save for one small problem: Toothless.

The Night Fury was standing between the medicine woman and the injured boy, pressed low to the ground with his wings unfurled. Slitted green eyes followed the woman's every move, and every time she tried to take a few steps closer, he hissed angrily, making a strange, warbly growling sound high in his throat.

No one needed to tell Astrid what to do. Stoick, while vastly grateful to his former foe, hadn't the first clue how to really handle a dragon. She was there to try to keep Toothless calm so that the poor medicine woman could do the job she had been brought there for.

This was a task, she understood, that was going to be difficult at best, and downright impossible at worst. Toothless didn't really listen to anyone but Hiccup, and after a stressful couple of days, it was easy to see why even he would assume the viking woman was there to _hurt_ as opposed to _help_. The dragon was smart... but he was also very loyal.

She had to approach with great care. Despite knowing her now as Hiccup's friend and someone to be trusted, especially in matters concerning his boy, Toothless was understandably wary. He just wanted to protect his boy. Allowing him to have a part chopped off was simply _not_ protecting him.

"Easy, Toothless," Astrid murmured, reaching out to press her hands carefully against the broad, flat head. "Easy. They're not going to hurt him. They just need to get that leg off."

But the Night Fury was not convinced. He squealed and tossed his head, dislodging the girl easily as he puffed and snorted. His expression, now focused on her as he faced her directly, spoke the words he could not. "They'll hurt him. I have to protect him."

The look was heartbreaking, but Astrid kept her resolve. She reached again, gently rubbing one of the flexible earfins, trying to keep Toothless focused on anything but the other two Vikings in the room. "I know you're just trying to protect Hiccup, but if they don't take that bad leg off, he could _die_." The word "die" seemed to finally sink in. Toothless made a frantic sound, wailing and thrashing his head as Astrid fought to calm him. "Toothless! Toothless, settle down or you'll hit Hiccup with your tail!" Toothless keened at her words, and while obviously not at all appeased by this unpleasant turn of events, he had at least stopped lashing about. "Come on. Over here, with me. We'll have some breakfast while they work."

It was no small task. For every three steps they took away from Hiccup's bedside, Toothless made a desperate attempt to take five more back... and controlling a dragon as strong and stubborn as this one was giving Astrid a whole new respect for what Hiccup had been able to do.

Neither dragon nor girl was particularly interested in the food waiting for them on the far side of the fire, backs to the bed and the events transpiring on it. Astrid barely nibbled at the leg of lamb and bread while Toothless just grumbled and scowled at the basket full of fresh fish set out for him.

Then was the whole issue of trying very hard not to look. Astrid was suddenly extremely glad Hiccup was out cold for this part. If the sounds behind her were any indication, this was not something someoen would have wanted to be awake for. She had to keep taking a firm hold of the earfins on Toothless's head to keep him from turning to find the source of the commotion, causing an irritated and pained squeal each time. She felt bad, but she had little choice.

It wasnt' until after an extremely unpleasant burning smell that Stoick finally came over to where the two were sitting. A visibly unhappy Toothless made an inquiring sound as one of the chief's massive hands came to rest atop his head.

"Leg's off clean, and the wound burned closed. Gobber's fixing him a new one, so he'll soon match his beast here." He glanced back, along with Astrid and Toothless, as the Night Fury lifted his tail to observe the missing tail fin. "Thank you, Astrid, for keeping him occupied. I can see why my boy likes you. Good head on your shoulders."

That caused Astrid to straighten quite a bit. "Ah... thank you, but... how...?"

Stoick didn't answer at first. He was watching as Toothless slipped from under his hand, pulled a fish from the basket, and walked over to lay next to Hiccup again, inspecting with a rather unpleasant expression the blanket where it fell limp just below the boy's left knee before sighing and settling with his tail draped over the boy's stomach. Once the dragon had settled completely, the chief spoke up again. "Talks in his sleep. His mum did, too. Takes a good deal after her, mind you."

Neither spoke for a long while after that, just quietly watching Toothless as he stared forlornly up at Hiccup's bed, making awful, sad little sounds in his chest. At last, Astrid sighed. "How long? Before he wakes up, I mean."

The burly Viking just shook his head, stroking his thick wooly beard. "Could be days. Maybe weeks. And I'm sure he could use more company than that great kitten while I sort out our new position with the dragons..."

It was an unspoken invitation, to which Astrid stood with a quiet nod, walking over to sit on the floor next to toothless. The dragon made a low sound, shifting so he could lay his broad head in her lap. "I'll keep them out of trouble."

The chief just nodded, watching his son's still form for several long moments before sighing and heading outside. Astrid remained quiet, watching Hiccup as he slept, fingers absently scratching Toothless's eye ridges. She knew for all his cleverness, Hiccup may never be intentionally brave or physically strong...

But she smiled in spite of herself. "I think we have enough bravery and strength between us," she began, looking down as Toothless glanced up, "to share some of it with Hiccup. Don't we, Toothless?"

The Night Fury's earfins flicked up as Toothless, lifting his head to watch his boy sleep, rumbled his gentle approval.


End file.
